Hinge constructions



t 6, 1959 G. sTRoco 2,901,490 I HINGE CONSTRUCTIONS Filed May 21; 1957 55 57 40e 56 58 60o. INVENTOR GENE STROCCO ATTORNEY.

2,907,490 HINGE CONSTRUCTIONS 'Gene Strocco, Whitestone, Application May 21, 1957, Serial No. 660,651 1 Claim. c1.220--s2 This invention relates ,to hinge devices, more particularly to a hinged container construction of the type having a body portion and a coacti ng cover member with adjacent curved surfaces.

In conventional hinged containers of the above category, particularly those of cylindrical configuration, a single hinge is employed, the hinge element being either extremely narrow or of flexible construction. Such conventional devices, because of the usual narrow hinge support or flexible hinge construction, do not have either the rigidity or strength which characterize hinge con: structions applied to flat-walled body portions and cover members. It is one of the objectives of my invention to eliminate the above-mentioned shortcomings of hinge constructions applied to curved surfaces by providing a construction having the rigidity and structural properties that have heretofore characterized only relatively flat-Walled structures of this class.

A further important objective of my invention is to enable my novel hinge construction to serve alsothe function of a pedestal, whereby the cylindrical container or the like can be set down upon a horizontal support without the danger of having it roll away. Heretofore it has been necessary, with cylindrical containers, to provide special flat bases or other special pedestals, involving relatively high manufacturing costs. In my novel hinge construction the hinge members are so constructed that they not only serve their aforesaid function of providing firm and rigid hinge connections between curved walls, but also the additional function of coacting with the curved surfaces to provide a three or four-point support, whereby the entire device will rest upon a flat surface in stable condition.

It is also my objective to provide a hinge construction that can be readily produced by known stamping or pressing procedures, which can be reversibly used as either a right or left-hand hinge of a pair of hinges for a curved container, and which can be adjustably attached to curved containers of different curvatures or proportions.

Other objects, featuresand advantages will appear from the drawings and the description hereinafter given.

Referring to the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one formof hinge member according to my invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the body portion and cover of an open container, showing the hinge construction according to my invention.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary rear view of the hinged container construction according to one form of my invention, shown in upright position.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary bottom view of Fig. 3.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary side view of the structure of Fig. 2.

nitcd States Patent Figure 6 is a rear view of the container construction Figure 7 is a fragmentary side view of the structure of Fig. 6.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary side view of a closed container of a somewhat modified form of my invention, shown operatively resting on a horizontal support.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary side view of another embodiment of my invention shown resting on a horizontal support.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary side view of still another form of-my invention shown resting upon a horizontal support.

Figure 11 is a fragmentary front view of the ture of Fig. 10.

In the form of my invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 7, the container 15 comprises the cover member 16 and the body portion 17, said cover member being proportioned for positioning over the front peripheral edge 18 of the open end of the body portion to form a closure therefor. -Said cover member comprises the front end wall 19 and the peripheral Wall 20, said body portion 17 comprising the peripheral wall 21 and the rear end wall 22. In the particular embodiment illustrated, peripheral walls 20 and 21 are cylindrical, with a common horizontal axis represented by the dot-dash line 23 and a vertical axis represented by the dot-dash line 24. The cover member is hingedly attached to the body member by my novel hinge members generally designated 25 and 26, respectively, these being attached to the cover member 16 and body portion 17 at equal distances laterally from said vertical axis 24 and on opposite sides thereof. The construction of each of said hinge members. 25 and 26 is such, as will more clearly hereinafter appear, as to enable them to coactive ly serve as combinationhinge and pedestal members, to wit, as pivotal connections between the cylindrical cover member 16 and cylindrical body portion. 17, as aforesaid, and also as a pedestal or base, coactively with the container, for enabling the latter to be placed in an upright stable position on a supporting surface.

The said hinge members 25 and 26 are preferably of identical construction, so that they could be interchangeably operatively positioned on the container. As can be clearly seen from Fig. 1, the hinge member 25 (as Well as the hinge member 26) comprises two complementary hinge brackets 27 and 28 operatively supporting the pintle 29 (the corresponding hinge member 26 supporting the corresponding pintle 29a). Hinge bracket 27 comprises the cover-anchoring plate 30, and normal thereto the hinge plate 31; and hinge bracket 28 comprises the bodyportion-anchoring plate 32, and normal thereto the hinge plate 33, said hinge plates containing the respective hinge knuckles 34 and 35 through which the corresponding pintle operatively extends. It Will be noted that outer lateral edges 36 and 37 of the respective hinge plates 31 and 33 are of greater length than the laterally opposite inner edges 38 and 39. The arrangement is such that the longitudinal extent of each of pintles 29 and 29a is inclined with respect to the general lateral extent of anchoring plates 27 and 28, the latter two being preferably proportioned to enable them to lit against the respective peripheral walls 20 and 21, as clearly appears in the drawings. The proportions of said respective outer edges 36, 37 and inner edges 38, 39 are such, with respect to said cover member 16 and body portion 17, that when the hinge members are operatively assembled in place, the pintles 29 and 29a are parallel to the horizontal axis 23, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 6. And in the preferred embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 7, the lowermost medial portion 40 of the container, on the said vertical axis 24, is disposed in horizontal alignment with the lowermost edges 40a of the said knuckles 34 and 35, so that, as will hereinafter appear, the hinge members can be set upon a suitable horizontal support with the said bottomrnost medial portion 40 also resting upon the support.

Anchoring plates 34) and 32 contain the slitted portions 41 and 42 extending from the respective opposite edges 43 and 44, the arrangement being such as to add to the flexibility of said anchoring plates whereby they will be .enabled to conform substantially to the configuration of or yieldable material is employed for the container, it

is apparent that the anchoring plates 30 and 32 and the respective peripheral walls and 21 will be brought into firm engagement upon an operative attachment of said rivets 47.

The said two hinge members 25 and 26-, being in spaced relation to each other, are, as aforesaid, adapted to coact with the said bottom-most portion of the container to provide a pedestal or base for the entire device, as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. The bottom-most knuckle portions 40a of the hinge members and said bottom-most portions 40 of the container all rest upon the supporting surface 48, so that the cylindrical container can readily be set upon a horizontal support or floor in a stable position. ,Despite the said spaced relation of said hinge members 25 and 26, they nevertheless effectively serve also as hinge members, since both pintles 29 and 29a are in alignment with each other and parallel to the horizontal axis '23. This combination is hence not only structurally superior to the single-hinge construction conventionally employed in cylindrical boxes, but also serves the additional function of enabling such cylindrical boxes to be conveniently rested upon a fiat surface without the danger of having them roll away.

In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 8, the bottommost portions 40b and 400 of the container are disposed above the level of the lowermost knuckle portions 400! of hinge members 49, constructed according to the em-' bodiment above described. Nevertheless, the hinge members are adapted to coact with the rear edge of the container 5-1, to enable the container to stably rest, in a somewhat inclined position, upon the supporting surface 52.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 9 the cover member 53 and body portion 54 are provided, respectively, with somewhat enlarged peripheral portions 55 and 56, where by the respective lowermost edges 57 and 58 of said peripheral portions are in the same plane with the lowermost portions 44):: of the knuckles, generally designated 59, of hinge members like those first above described. And in Figs. 10 and 11 downwardly extending medial lugs 60 and 60a are attached to the undersides of the respective cover member 61 and body portion 62, the bases of said lugs being in the same plane with the lowermost knuckle portions 40 of the hinge members generally designated 63. In both of these forms (those of Fig. 9, and of Figs. 10 and 11) the cylindrical containers can be set upon a flat surface and rested in stable condition by the coaction between my novel hinge members and portions of the container.

It is noteworthy that the hinge members 25 and 26 can be stamped out of thin metal stock, each hinge member being adapted for use on either side of the vertical axis 24, thereby making it unnecessary to produce different right and left-hand hinges. This results in an economical construction, in that similar hinge members may be employed in coactive relation on the same container, and may also be employed in conjunction with differently sized and proportioned cylindrical containers, within limits, in view of the slitted portions 41 and 42 above described.

Although cylindrically shaped containers are illustrated, it is understood that my novel hinge construction can also be applied to containers with peripheral walls of polygonal or other configurations characterized by a lowermost medial portion flanked by upwardly offset lateral portions, the two hinge members being attached to said offset portions.

'In the above description, the invention has been disclosed merely by way of example and in preferred manner; but obviously many variations and modifications may be made therein. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to any specific form or manner of practicing same, except insofar as such limitations are specified in the appended claim.

I claim:

A hinged container construction comprising a body member and a cover member, said body member having a circular disc-like bottom, an upstanding cylindrical side wall and an open top, said cover member having a circular disc-like top, a downwardly depending cylindrical Wall andan open bottom, said members being connected together by. hinge means so that their open ends are in facing engaging relation and the longitudinal axes of their cylindrical side walls are in alignment, said hinge means comprising two separate hinges each secured to the cylindrical walls of said members in circumferentially spaced relation with its plane of hinging action normal to the plane of the engaging ends of the said members, each of said hinges having two anchor plates one of which is secured to the cover cylindrical wall and the other of which isjsecured to the body cylindrical wall, each of said anchor plates having an integrally attached substantially triangular hinge plate projecting perpendicularly outwardly therefrom adjacent the open ends of the body and cover members and terminating in hinge knuckles, the hinge knuckles that are attached to the body member being interengaged with the hinge knuckles that are attached to the cover member and having a hinge pintle therethrough, the pintles of the said two separate hinges being in alignment and the extreme surfaces of the hinge knuckles of both hinges which are farthest radially from the container lying in a plane substantially tangent to that portion of the cylindrical container which lies between the two hinges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

